1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to motor vehicle electrical systems, and particularly to a universal fleet electrical system for fleets of emergency vehicles, such as police vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Law enforcement agencies typically have large fleets of motor vehicles which require a wide variety of aftermarket accessories, including, but not limited to, radios, light bars, arrow sticks, flashers for high beams, grill lights, brake and backup lights, strobe lights, dash lights, rear deck lighting, mobile dispatch terminals, video cameras, and computers. Original equipment manufacture (OEM) police packages offer base packages which are very expensive and which do not begin to provide the capability of handling all accessory needs. State agencies and local government entities have tight budgetary constraints which require that accessory systems be put up for bid to local vendors. Unfortunately, wiring systems vary from vendor to vendor, and often accessories must be hard wired by tapping into the vehicle""s existing wiring system. As accessories accumulate, the vehicle""s accessory wiring system becomes very complex with no unifying schematic. Consequently, when an accessory fails, it becomes very difficult and time consuming to track down the fault through the vehicle""s wiring system.
Various inventions have sought to simplify vehicle wiring systems to make electrical systems more economical and to reduce the cost of servicing vehicle electrical systems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,155, issued September 1983 to Aoki et al., describes a wiring system which eliminates external jumper wires by housing a switch box and fuse box in a connector box with buss bars which branch to terminals and split terminals leaving the connector box. U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,718, issued August, 1987 to Maue et al., teaches a junction box with circuit boards inside, and a top cover having sockets which receive standard wire harnesses, customized buss bars selected by vehicle options, and any additional components required by the accessory circuits.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,884, issued July, 1989 to Sawai et al., shows a junction box to which a controller and a wire harness attach, the junction box having buss bars inside. U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,154, issued September, 1989 to Copeland et al., discloses a device for shutting down auxiliary devices in a police car which are not connected to or controlled by the ignition switch, e.g., radios, public address, etc., so that the battery does not run down, the device comprising a timer circuit between the battery and the auxiliary device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,561, issued September, 1990 to A. B. Tamer, describes a smart power connector for carrying multiplexed data signals between a central control module and peripheral control modules. U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,148, issued September, 1999 to W. F. Wagner, teaches a power connection box with fused circuits and relays to control various devices on a police car or other emergency vehicle. The box is mounted under the dash, receives one wire from the positive terminal of the battery and a second wire from the ignition switch. The box provides some output terminals which are always hot, some output terminals which are hot only so long as the ignition switch is on, and some output terminals which are hot with the ignition on but with a delay to keep them hot for a predetermined time when the ignition is turned off, and fused circuit pass throughs for connecting a light controller to the light bar. The device uses a tamer integrated circuit and a flip-flop.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,973,409 and 6,150,734, issued October, 1999 and November 2000, respectively to Neibecker et al., show a system having a case including a signal distribution board and a power distribution board which are connected by a first card with fuses and a second card with relays. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,990,570 and 6,307,279, issued November, 1999 and October, 2001, respectively to Yoshida et al., disclose a solid state power distribution device for eliminating fuses and reducing wiring requirements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,573, issued November, 1999 to Granitz et al. describes a plurality of area modules distributed at various locations near the loads throughout a vehicle, each area module having a plurality of slots for receiving feature modules.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a universal fleet electrical system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The universal fleet electrical system is an integrated system for supplying electrical power to aftermarket accessories, particularly to police vehicles and other emergency vehicles. The system includes a central power distribution panel, which includes a fuse panel and a lighting selector junction box, together with a universal wiring harness. A variety of custom wiring harnesses may also be used in the universal fleet electrical system. A dash mounted console is provided for operator control of the various accessory devices. The lighting selector junction box permits various lighting accessories to be connected to different light level circuits through push connectors, so that a plurality of lighting devices may be controlled by a single switch.
The universal wiring harness includes wiring harnesses and connectors connected to various spare switch-controlled circuits as additional accessories are added to the vehicle. Troubleshooting and maintenance are facilitated by color coding and labeling of the wires in the harness. Connection of remote accessories, such as a light bar mounted on the vehicle roof, is facilitated through a novel weatherproof boot connector, rather than hard wiring the light bar to the harness. The wiring harness features various convenience features, such as industrial braiding to reduce harness cable diameter under carpeting and molding.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to eliminate the time and expense involved in tapping additional aftermarket accessories into an existing vehicle electrical system by providing a universal fleet electrical system for distributing electrical power to aftermarket accessories in police and emergency vehicles.
It is another object of the invention to reduce the time an expense of troubleshooting failed aftermarket accessories in fleet vehicles through a universal fleet electrical system having standardized cable runs identified by color coding and labeling.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a universal fleet electrical system having a wiring harness with spare circuits having wiring connectors located at various locations within the vehicle for quick addition of aftermarket accessories to the vehicle.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a universal fleet electrical system having an improved harness using industrial braiding and weatherproof connectors for convenient routing of vehicle wiring.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.